How’s He Doing? Koch Out of Hospital

Published

6 years ago

on

12/12/2012

Former Mayor Ed Koch was released from the hospital on Dec. 10 following a bout with pneumonia. Koch, who turned 88 on Dec. 12, was admitted to New York-Presbyterian Hospital on Dec. 4. He was treated with antibiotics, according to his spokesman, George Arzt, who also said Koch had “a slight case of the flu.”

This was the second hospitalization for Koch this year. In September, he was hospitalized after feeling weak while staying with friends in North Carolina. He was treated for anemia, was released after three days, and said he planned to head straight to his office at the law firm Bryan Cave LLP.

Koch was scheduled to campaign for President Obama in Florida in September but backed out, citing the fact that he was too weak to travel. The former mayor has dealt with numerous health problems over the years. In 1987, he suffered a stroke while in office but fully recovered. In 1999, he had a heart attack, and in 2009, he underwent quadruple bypass surgery. He now walks with a cane and has spinal stenosis, a pacemaker, and congestive heart failure. He still keeps busy, however, showing up to his law office every day, writing movie reviews, and appearing as one of NY1’s “Wise Guys” on Inside City Hall with former Sen. Al D’Amato and former Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

Koch was mayor from 1978 – 1989. He was elected three times, but failed to get a fourth term after losing the Democratic primary to David Dinkins, who beat Rudy Giuliani in the general election. Koch was famous for asking New Yorkers, “How’m I doing?”

In September, Koch gave an exclusive interview to The Jewish Voice in which he opined on the presidential race, Israel, and his favorite Chinese restaurant: “I like the Peking Duck at 28 Mott Street,” he said.